ABSTRACTS
Ann Druffel - A Scientist vs. the System: The Remarkable UFO Research of Dr. James E. McDonald
In the spring of 1966 an outstanding scientist, Dr. James E. McDonald, publicly entered the UFO research field. He was internationally known for his contributions to Meteorology and Climatology and was Senior Physicist in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona in Tucson . In 1958 he began quietly investigating local UFO reports and served as an unofficial scientific consultant to the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), the largest civilian UFO research organization then in existence, headquartered in Washington , D.C. He became convinced that the UFO phenomenon constituted a serious scientific question and in 1966 publicly announced his decision to bring the problem to the attention of the scientific establishment. From 1966 to 1971 he contributed voluminously to the UFO field. He made four trips to Project Blue Book where he discovered important cases which had been "explained" as conventional objects. He gave hundreds of talks before prestigious scientific, technical and academic groups, convincing numerous scientists that UFOs were a scientific problem that was being badly neglected. Soon, however, he began to experience a series of unexplained setbacks and troubling events, some of which implied surveillance by unidentified forces. In spite of his phenomenal energy, talents, and influence he unexpectedly suffered clinical depression, which resulted in his premature death at 51. His contributions to the UFO field cannot be overestimated, and his impact on UFO research continues to this day.
David M. Jacobs, Ph.D. - Thinking Clearly About the Abduction Phenomenon
NO ABSTRACT
Richard F. Haines, Ph.D. - Human Initiated Contact
This paper deals with a largely overlooked aspect of ufology, namely human initiated contact (HIC) with anomalous aerial objects. Here the term "contact" refers to reports in which the witness saw something unusual, signaled to it either in a friendly (Part I) or an aggressive (Part II) manner and then noticed some type of clearly overt response. The most reasonable interpretation of these reports is that the anomalous object responded to the human's behavior. Our objective is to seek unambiguous signs of intelligence behind the ufo's response. The 27 cases presented here were taken from a longer (book length) review by the author of over two hundred fifty similar events. Summary statistics from this longer work are presented to help place the present cases in their larger context. Based upon this evidence it is not unreasonable to postulate that both high intelligence and "self" control are being shown toward the often provocative behavior shown toward "them" by human beings.
Deborah Lindemann, C.H.T. - The Spectrum of Abduction: A Question of Perception
The abduction phenomenon reflects a broad and expansive spectrum of experiences, from the traumatic to transformative. Human contact with non-human beings is reported with a variety of beings spanning the gamut from so-called "greys" to "super conscious beings." Contact appears to be taking place in conscious waking states, as well as in our dreams and altered states of consciousness.
Lives are changed in unequivocal ways. The reports for positive experiences are equally as compelling as those which reflect more frightening encounters. Are we to invalidate the accounts of benign or beneficial encounters? Are all of these reports to be case off as mere denial, or a conscious coping mechanism to shield us from sufficient evidence to judge the nature of these beings, or the credibility of the abductees' perceptions? Are we seeing a balanced and accurate view of abduction phenomena through books and the media?
To understand many of these questions, we need to be aware of how consciousness itself may shape the perception of the experience, or even get in the way. The abduction experience will challenge everything that we know.
Jose Escamilla - RODS: The Discovery of a New Phenomenon
NO ABSTRACT
Michael P. Lindemann - UFOs & the New Consensus on Extraterrestrial Life
Most mainstream space scientists now believe in a widely populated universe. Since 1995, major discoveries have established the reality of planets around numerous stars, evidence of possible ancient life on Mars, and robust life in extreme environments on earth - all lending credence to the supposition that life might occur in many unexpected places throughout space. Meanwhile, human achievements in space travel and theoretical developments in space propulsion suggest that travel between stars might be feasible. Taken together, these new discoveries effectively refute any de facto argument against the claim of UFOs as possible extraterrestrial craft. The Ufological community is therefore challenged to recognize that we may be at the brink of winning the 50-year battle for scientific acceptance of UFO evidence on its own merits.
John F. Schuessler - UFOs" The Technological Issues
UFO reports provide a unique technological challenge. Highly credible witnesses, often using a variety of data recording devices, have been reporting incredible UFO incidents for many years. Highly credible scientist and investigators then amass and analyze the data, often coming to the conclusion that a physically real object was observed by the witnesses. This process has been repeated thousands of times over the past fifty years. Unfortunately, the results of all of this work have generally been published as a long-running series of articles and books and never amassed as a technology data base. It is time to attack the UFO phenomena as a set of technological issues.
Joe Lewels, Ph.D. - Aliens or Angels?: The Conflict Between the E.T. and God Hypothesis
Do UFOs present a threat to the human race, as some researchers believe, or do they represent our salvation? Or does the answer lie somewhere in the middle?
This paper presents the conflict between two opposing views: on the one hand, there are those who seethe alien abduction phenomenon as a sinister plot to take over the planet, while on the other hand, some view the alien presence as an ancient phenomenon with much deeper and broader implications. Rather than seeing an alien invasion, some researchers believe that the beings we call "aliens" are part of the evolutionary process.
At the crux of the debate are the hybrid species that the beings are creating. For those who support the E.T. hypothesis, the creation of a hybrid species is seen as a sinister act. They believe that the hybrids will eventually take over the planet, under the direction of the evil, alien masters. However, those who see this as an ancient phenomenon, see the hybrids as the next step in human evolution - a continuation of a process that began hundreds of thousands of years ago when the beings created the human species.
Stanley V. McDaniel - What is the Case for the Face?
Although the mysterious object called the "Face" on Mars has stimulated serious scientific research, highly speculative popular accounts of the Face and related objects has led to much public and professional misunderstanding of the data. A group of scientists was formed under the title Society for Planetary SETI Research (SPSR) in 1994, with the aim of developing the subject in a strictly scientific framework. In November 1997 representatives of this group were invited to present their research to NASA, and NASA has since stated that it is "official policy" to re-image the area of the anomalies. Public confusion about the use of the cameras on the Mars Global Surveyor, now orbiting Mars, led to premature alarm and accusations of cover-up. This paper discusses the actual situation as far as the mars Global Surveyor is concerned, and what we may expect from that spacecraft during its imaging opportunities in 1998 and 1999.
Tracy Torme - Losing the Way of Public Perception
NO ABSTRACT
W. C. Levengood's paper presented by Nancy Talbot - Anatomical Anomalies in Crop Formation Plants
Crop formations consist of geometrically organized regions ranging from 2 to 80m diameter, in which the plants (primarily grain crops) are flattened in a horizontal position. Plants from crop formations display anatomical alterations which cannot be accounted for by assuming the formations are hoaxes. Hear the soil surface the curved stems often form complex swirls with "vortex" type patterns. In the present paper, evidence is presented which indicates that structural and cellular alterations take place in plants exposed within the confines of the 'circle' type formations, differences which were determined to be statistically significant when compared with control plants taken outside the formations. These transformations were manifested at the macroscopic level as abnormal nodal swelling, gross malformations during embryogenesis, and charred epidermal tissue. Significant changes in seed germination and development were found, and at the microscopic level differences were observed in cell wall pit structures. Affected plants also have characteristics suggesting the involvement of transient high temperatures.
Jaime Maussan - The Mexican Wave: A Briefing
During a total solar eclipse over Mexico City on July 11, 1994 , many people videotaped a bright stationary object in the sky that was recognized as the planet Venus, whereas others thought it was a real UFO. The author was inundated with other videotapes of the same object from other cities besides Mexico City . A debate has ensued about the actual identity of the white object.
The clearest videos were the following:
- Mexico City (recorded by Mr. Guillermo Arreguin)
- Puebla City (recorded by Pardo Breton family)
- Tepeji Del Rio, Hidalgo State (recorded by Mr. Luis Lara)
In addition to numerous videos, two major cases are reported in this paper:
- Metepec Case (September 17, 1994)
- Las Lomas Case (August 6, 1997)
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